Local swimmers set for state meet

For a pair of Lenawee County teams, this weekend is both the culmination of a season and a sendoff for the senior class.

Both the Adrian High School and Tecumseh High School girls swimming and diving teams will close out their seasons Friday and Saturday in the Division 3 state championship meet at the Holland Aquatic Center.

Adrian will field swimmers in nine events.

"This will be a bittersweet weekend, because we're looking forward to the meet, yet we're going to miss our seven seniors," Adrian coach Bill Esterline said. "We've been together for a long time, most of them since they were 10 years old. They have put a great deal of time into the program with their efforts and leadership."

Tecumseh had a relay team, two divers and two individuals reach this weekend's competition.

"We had a small team this year, and half of the team is going to the state meet," Tecumseh coach Sarah Eubanks said. "We had a very positive season, and the team works very well together."

The Maples are returning to the state meet with plenty of experience and momentum. A year ago, Adrian placed seventh as a team, while Jennifer Wagley captured the Division 3 state championship in the 100-yard butterfly. After putting together another successful regular season this fall, the Maples captured last weekend's Southeastern Michigan Independent Swim League (SMISL) championship.

"Winning the SMISL was a nice thing for us to do, especially for our younger girls who really won that meet for us," Esterline said. "Our goal from the start of the season is to swim our fastest during the last three weeks, and that is how we structure our practices. The girls have done pretty well with that, and we're confident that if we swim fast we should be competitive this weekend."

Wagley enters the state meet as the No. 1 seed in both the 100-yard and 200-yard butterfly events. The senior's qualifying time for the 100 butterfly was 57.46 seconds, the only swimmer whose time is under a minute. Wagley qualified for the 200-yard butterfly with a time of 2:09.54, more than three seconds ahead of No. 2 seed Riley Kishman of Grand Rapids Catholic Central (2:12.86).

Allie Mohr and Carolyn Roberts both qualified in two individual events for Adrian. Mohr will swim in the 500-yard freestyle event, while Roberts will compete in the 100-yard freestyle. Both will swim for the Maples in the 200-yard freestyle race.

Emily Goodson will compete in both the 50-yard and 100-yard freestyle events. The Adrian senior is the No. 5 seed in the 100-yard race (53.99 second qualifying time) and the No. 7 seed in the 50-yard event (24.87 qualifying time). Victoria Mueller will compete for the Maples in both the 100-yard backstroke and 200-yard individual medley race, while Sarah Norton will also swim in the 100-yard backstroke. Hannah Barr will join Wagley in the 100-yard butterfly.

Adrian will also have teams swim in the 200-yard medley and 200-yard freestyle relays. The Maples are the No. 2 seed in the medley relay after recording a qualifying time of 1:50.72. East Grand Rapids is the top seed in the event (1:50.17 qualifying time).

"The only thing we can hope for is that we swim fast, and we'll end up where we end up," Esterline said. "We would love to finish in the top five, but only we can dictate what we do."

Karlee Marsh will cap a strong freshman season by representing Tecumseh in two individual events. Marsh is the No. 9 seed in the 200-yard freestyle, qualifying with a time of 2:00.83. She will also swim in the 500-yard freestyle race.

Madison Gee will swim for the Indians in the 100-yard butterfly. The junior qualified with a time of 1:03.07 and enters as the No. 10 seed.

Tecumseh's team of Marsh, Gee, Alicia Dusseau and Elizabeth Becker will compete in the 200-yard medley relay. Sarah Kelly will make her third appearance in the state meet in the diving event, while Megan LaFollette also qualified as a diver.

"Our goal is to make it to the finals on the second day," Eubanks said. "With the times we've set as our goals, we should be in the mix."

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